E.U. Moves Against 3 Countries That Don’t Take Refugees

BRUSSELS — European Union authorities began a legal case on Tuesday against three member countries that have refused to share the burden of hosting migrants arriving on the bloc’s southern shores.

The decisions, against the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland, will be formally made on Wednesday. This is the first time the European Commission, the bloc’s executive body, has flexed its legal muscle over the divisive issue.

The bloc’s original goal was to resettle 160,000 migrants throughout the member nations to relieve pressure on Greece and Italy, the main arrival points for the throngs of migrants making the dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean. Instead, only 20,869 people had been relocated from Greece and Italy as of the end of last week, according to the European Commission.

France and Portugal are among the countries that have given refuge to significant numbers of migrants. But some Central and Eastern European countries with relatively homogeneous populations and little experience with multiculturalism have resisted. Hungary and Poland have taken no refugees, and the Czech Republic stopped participating in the program, so they all face legal action.

Although Denmark and Austria also have taken no migrants, Denmark in 1993 curtailed participation in the European Union fields of justice and home affairs, which means it does not have to be part of the migrant relocation plan. Austria has pledged to participate.

The Court of Justice of the European Union could eventually impose fines, but that could take years. The commission first must write a series of warning letters.

About 28,000 migrants are now eligible for relocation, according to estimates from the European Commission. The program formally ends on Sept. 26, but migrants arriving until that date can qualify.